Mayor in Pogo case says poll bid still a go despite Ombudsman’s DQ
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Suspended Porac Mayor Jaime Capil has announced that he was not backing out of his reelection bid even as the Office of the Ombudsman ordered his permanent ban from government service.
“Tuloy po ang ating kandidatura (My candidacy is still a go),” Capil said in his team’s official Facebook page on Friday night. “Now more than ever, it is this election that we need your support the most,” he added.
The Ombudsman, in an April 3 decision, found Capil guilty of gross neglect of duty in connection with the illegal operations and criminal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) Lucky South 99 in the Pampanga town since 2020. The decision, signed by Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas Dante Vargas on behalf of Ombudsman Samuel Martires, accepted the recommendation of a special panel of investigators that looked into the complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Assistant Ombudsman Pilarita Lapitan endorsed the decision to the accounting division of the local government unit (LGU) of Porac.
A warning to others
On Saturday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the Ombudsman’s decision should “serve as a deterrent to future misconduct by other government officials.”
Gatchalian, who initiated the Senate inquiry into Pogo-related crimes, said Capil’s dismissal “sends a strong message that public officials who turn a blind eye to or engage in illegal activities will be held accountable and face the consequences of their actions.”
“The Ombudsman’s decision gives us confidence that other LGUs and public officials who are similarly involved in criminal activities, such as Pogos, will face the repercussions of their wrongdoing,” the senator said in a statement.
Capil’s penalty includes dismissal from the service, cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification for reemployment in the government service.
In his social media post, Capil said he expected his allies, whose administrative charges were dismissed, to resume their posts and correct whatever wrongdoings were committed.
Acting Mayor Myla Clarete said “everything in my term [since October 2024] was done aboveboard, with every centavo properly accounted for.” Clarete’s brother-in-law, Mike Tapang, is Capil’s rival in the mayoral race.
Cassie Ong meeting
Aside from Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO) chief Emerald Vital’s sworn testimony that “she has no such authority to act or recommend as supposed head of Porac’s BPLO, and that the authority and decision-making process in the grant of the questioned business permits emanated from and was the sole responsibility and accountability of Mayor Capil,” several circumstances got the executive’s neck.
The Ombudsman decision said Capil met Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, an incorporator of Whirlwind Corp. that supposedly leased the land to Lucky South, in a cafe in Angeles City in October 2019 and introduced her to municipal councilors. It said a special session was held in a restaurant by the council “with undue haste” after it received a Lucky South 99 request for a letter of no objection for a business process outsourcing.
These include the “undisclosed reason of Mayor Capil’s inaction or rather conscious disregard” of a report and recommendation to “deny the renewal” of Lucky South 99’s business permit application in the year 2020.
The decision also noted the “lack of monitoring and oversight supervision of Lucky South 99’s operation even after reports of illegal activities from the PNP (Philippine National Police) reached his office” and the “renewal of said business permit in the year 2023 which extended beyond the expiration date of Lucky South 99’s Pogo license.”
‘Undisputed circumstances’
According to the Ombudsman, these “significant and undisputed circumstances happened under the close watch of Mayor Capil as overall administrator of Porac LGU which clearly demonstrated his predisposition to favor the grant and continued operation of Lucky South 99 as Pogo in Porac at all costs despite the unfavorable odds against it.”
Meanwhile, the Ombudsman dismissed the administrative charges for gross neglect of duty against former Vice Mayor Charlie Santos, Vice Mayor Francis Laurence Tamayo and 16 former and incumbent councilors.
Capil is seeking another term in the coming May polls as mayor of Porac, a position he has held since 2019. —WITH A REPORT FROM MARLON RAMOS
